


Home For The Holidays

by maliayukimura



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Argent & Kira Yukimura Friendship, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Christmas, Christmas Caroling, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Claustrophobia mentioned, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family Bonding, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Holidays, New Year's Eve, Pining, Twrarepair Secret Santa 2015, alcohol mentioned, all ships other than Derek Hale/Kira Yukimura are minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5449319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maliayukimura/pseuds/maliayukimura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kira has made some dumb decisions in her life, but her worst one would probably have to be bringing the guy she has a crush on back to Beacon Hills with her for the holidays and pretending to be in a relationship with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home For The Holidays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nighttimemachinery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighttimemachinery/gifts).



“Mom, I told you that I’d be coming home for Christmas this year,” Kira said into her phone as she walked up the stairs of the New York apartment building, heading toward her apartment. She never really liked elevators, so she always took the stairs. Luckily for Kira, her apartment was only on the third floor. After three flights of stairs and a stroll down a long hallway, Kira was finally reaching both her apartment and the end of her conversation with her mother. She unlocked the door and entered the apartment. Her roommate, best friend, and crush, Derek Hale, was lounging on the couch reading his old copy of _War and Peace_. She knew that he was waiting for her to get home so they could continue their tradition of marathoning tv shows on Friday nights together. “Don’t forget that Derek’s coming home with me this year.”

“Don’t worry, sweetie, we all know that you’re finally bringing your boyfriend home to meet us,” Noshiko replied. Kira’s eyes landed on Derek when her mom called him her boyfriend. Her face reddened in embarrassment.

“Mom! He isn’t, we’re not–,” Kira spluttered. Derek looked up from his book to shot her a questioning look. Kira blushed even harder when she met his gaze. Derek shook his head, trying to let Kira know she didn’t need to be embarrassed at whatever her mother had said to her, and returned his attention back to his book. “Look, I got to go. I’ll talk to you later. Love you, bye.” She let out a sigh of relief as she hung up. 

Kira hung her coat up on the hook and headed over to join Derek on the couch. He laid his book down and turned to Kira. “Is your mom still pushing the idea of you having a boyfriend?” he asked.

“She’s now convinced that you’re my boyfriend just because you’re coming with me to Beacon Hills this year for Christmas,” Kira answered. She leaned back on the couch and groaned. “I’m only twenty-two; I should be out living life, not worrying about finding a husband. I don’t understand why she’s so insistent that I find someone to settle down with right now.”

“If you want, I can pretend to be your boyfriend to help get her off your back,” Derek offered. Kira arched her eyebrow at him, a look of disbelief on her face. She couldn’t believe that the guy she has had a crush on for years was offering to pretend to be her boyfriend, if only he offered to be her actual boyfriend instead of a fake one. “No, hear me out: everyone already assumes that we’re dating since we live together and aren’t in a relationship with anyone else. If we pretend we’re dating, maybe your mom will stop trying to set you up.”

Kira laughed. “I don’t even know how she’s able to set me up with blind dates from all the way on the other side of country. I think she has supernatural powers; it’s the only explanation.”

Derek smiled and laughed along. “I’m serious, Kira. You’re my best friend,” Derek said. “I know your mother’s meddling in your love life bothers you. Having a boyfriend might help to get her to back off; I’ll gladly be your fake boyfriend if you want me to.”

“God, you’re amazing. Derek. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Kira responded, smiling at her best friend and roommate. “It will only be for a few days, but I’ll greatly appreciate and forever be in your debt for doing this for me.”

“You can pay me back by getting the snacks ready while I queue up the next season of _Doctor Who_ ,” Derek answered. Kira got up off the couch and headed to the kitchen while Derek pulled Netflix up on the tv and scrolled through their queue, looking for the _Doctor Who_ logo.

In the kitchen, Kira put a bag of popcorn into the microwave and got out a bowl to dump the popcorn into once it was done popping. While she waited for the popcorn, she hurried off to her room to quickly change into pajamas.  When she finished changing and returned to the kitchen, the popcorn was done, so Kira took it out of the microwave and poured it into the bowl.  She grabbed two cans of soda from the fridge and balanced the bowl of popcorn on top of them before heading out to the living room.

Derek was sitting on the couch, curled up with a blanket. The episode was queued up on the tv, all they had to do was hit play on the remote. He took the bowl of popcorn from Kira so she could put the drinks on the coffee table and sit down on the couch. Kira lifted up the blanket and slid in next to Derek on the couch.

The two of them spent the night cuddling on the couch while watching _Doctor Who_ because that is totally something that best friends do together. If Kira felt hyper-aware of their physical contact, she tried not to let it show. She knew that Derek only offered to pretend to be her boyfriend because he was her friend. She didn’t want to ruin their friendship because of her crush, so she was going to have to just try to ignore her feelings for him. She just had to get through the holidays and then everything would go back to normal.

 

* * *

 

The next couple of days Derek and Kira spent packing for the trip. Derek had never left New York, let alone the East coast, before, so he had many questions for Kira regarding what he should pack. It got to the point where Kira just sat on his bed while he held up various clothes and she would approve or veto them. 

“Make sure you pack your green jacket,” Kira said as she took the approved items from Derek and folded them up to be put away in his suitcase while he looked in his closet for more clothing for her to approve of.

Derek turned back to Kira with a pained look on his face. “No. That jacket is hideous,” Derek groaned.

Kira giggled at Derek’s expensive. “But it’s totally your color,” she teased. “And Isaac got you it for Christmas last year. You would never actually get rid of it; you’re too much of a good friend for that.”

Derek laughed. “But do I really need to take it with me?” he asked. “I’m pretty sure that it’s supposed to live in the back of my closet for the rest of my life. It’s not meant to see the light of day.”

“You’re definitely taking it with us,” Kira said. “Like I know you’re actually a giant teddy bear, but you don’t always come off that way when meeting new people. This jacket makes you appear more approachable than your usual black leather jacket. Besides, this one is way more festive.”

Derek sighed and then reached into his closet to grab the green leather jacket. He passed it over to Kira and she folded it up and put in the suitcase.  

After packing a few more items, they finished packing. Derek rolled his suitcase out to the living room and placed it next to Kira’s while Kira went to the kitchen to grab the takeout menus for the Japanese place a few blocks over. They spent rest of the night eating takeout and discussing what their back-story would be while they were in Beacon Hills. Once Derek and Kira finished their dinner and their discussion, they retired to their rooms for the night because they knew that they had to get up early to catch their plane to California the next day.

 

* * *

 

The very next morning, Derek and Kira had a quick breakfast and then headed right out the door. Kira waited with Derek for the elevator. Once the elevator came, Derek got into it and Kira passed him the two suitcases without getting on the elevator herself. A mischievous smile crept onto her face. “Race you!” she called out, right before the elevator doors closed.

 She could hear Derek laugh as she sprinted toward the stairwell door. Kira raced down the stairs as fast as she could go. When she reached the lobby, the elevator doors were just beginning to open. She hurried across the lobby to get to the elevator. She was a little out of breath from running down the stairs, but she called out, “Ha, I win.”

Derek shook his head, chuckling, at her as he exited the elevator. He passed Kira her suitcase and asked, “Why don’t you ever take the elevator?”

“I don’t really do well in small places,” Kira replied, looking down at her feet shyly. “I’m okay in cars because I can look out the window, but I can’t stand the feeling of trapped in a closed off space, like an elevator.” She didn’t know why she suddenly felt embarrassed about being claustrophobic; it wasn’t like Derek didn’t already know most her secrets already.

Derek reached out and put a comforting hand on her arm. “After the fire, I couldn’t stand being around any kind of flame,” he said. “I had a meltdown a few months later when I saw birthday candles on a cake.” 

Kira was shocked. She knew that Derek didn’t like to talk about the house fire that killed his whole family a few years ago. It meant a lot to her whenever Derek would open up to her about it. “You don’t need to talk about it, if you don’t want to,” Kira responded quietly.

“No, it’s okay,” Derek replied. “I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to be ashamed.” He ran his hand down her arm in a comforting manner. Kira grabbed on to his hand and held it. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and a sad smile. She responded with a small smile. The two of them stood in a comfortable silence together, holding hands, as Derek hailed them a cab.

The ride to the airport was fairly short. They had left early to try to miss the holiday rush, but it was still very crowded. Kira stuck close to Derek, trying to not get overwhelmed by the large crowds of people in the airport.

The process of checking in and going through security didn’t take nearly as long as the two of them had thought. Derek found a little café by their terminal after the security checkpoint, so they went there to get some food before heading back to the waiting area to sit. They kept each other entertained by talking about what the holidays were like with their families. Derek kept Kira laughing the whole time that she forgot about her fear of enclosed spaces and the fact that she would be trapped in the airplane for almost four hours.

After a few hours of waiting, they were finally able to board the plane. Kira started to panic a little as they were walking down the jetway, but Derek calmed her down and held her hand as they boarded the plane. When they made it back to their seats, Derek let Kira take the window seat while he put their carry-ons in the overhead. He then sat down in the seat next to Kira.

Take off occurred not to long after everyone was seated and the flight attendants did their safety procedure demonstration. Kira was going okay during the plane ride so far, with being able to look out the window and Derek holding her hand and talking to her to distract her. It wasn’t until the flight attendants brought out the drink carts that Kira had a problem; although, this problem wasn’t due to her claustrophobia.

A perky flight attendant took a liking to Derek. She was constantly coming over to their seats, asking if there was anything she could do for him. Derek made polite conversation with her, the way he typically would with any stranger, but she kept shamelessly flirting and giving him a little too friendly forearm lingers. She would giggle loudly and lean forward as she flipped her long brown hair whenever Derek said anything, even remotely humorous. The hair flipping was a thinly veiled attempt to draw attention to her cleavage, but it mostly just revealed her nametag.

“Excuse me, Jennifer, could I get a glass of water?” Kira asked, leaning slightly over Derek, during one of the flight attendant’s stops at their seats to flirt with Derek.

Jennifer shot Kira a quick glare for interrupting her attempts to flirt with Derek but quickly replaced the glare with a fake smile. “Of course, sweetie,” she replied in a sickeningly sweet tone that was obviously fake. After handing Kira a glass of water, she quickly turned her attention back to Derek. “It’s so sweet that you’re traveling with your little sister for the holidays.”

Kira felt offended by Jennifer’s statement. It was obvious that she and Derek were not related; besides, Derek was only three years older than her, so the comment about her being his little sister was only meant to belittle her. “We’re not related,” Kira said in a sweet fake tone, matching Jennifer’s. “I’m his girlfriend.”

Jennifer’s jaw dropped open, but she quickly wiped any trace of shock off of her face. “Oh,” she said quietly, a little defeated. And with that, Jennifer turned on her heels and quickly retreated back to the attendant’s quarters. For the rest of the flight, she avoided their aisle.

Surprisingly Derek didn’t even seem to notice that Jennifer had been flirting with him or that she was now avoiding the two of them. Kira tried to apologize for scaring Jennifer away, but Derek hadn’t minded at all. He was just practicing having polite conversation because he knows that at times he can come off a bit hostile and he didn’t want to come across that way to Kira’s family and friends.

The rest of the flight was uneventful for them. After a few more hours, the plane finally landed in California. Once they were cleared to move about the cabin after landing, Derek grabbed their carry-ons from the overhead container and they exited the plane together, holding hands so they wouldn’t get separated. They went to the luggage claim to grab their suitcases and then headed out to find Kira’s parents waiting from them in the airport lobby.

 

* * *

 

Finding Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura wasn’t too difficult for Derek and Kira, despite the airport being very crowded. Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura had been holding up a sign with Kira and Derek’s names scrawled across it in beautiful lettering and a little illustration of a fox in the corner. As soon as Kira saw them, she ran over to give her parents a hug.

“There’s my little fire-fox,” Mr. Yukimura greeted as he hugged Kira. She giggled at the old nickname.

“Hey, Dad,” Kira greeted. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, sweetie,” he replied, letting go of Kira so that she could then give her mother a hug.

“Oh, how I missed my little Kitsune,” Mrs. Yukimura sighed as she gave Kira a hug.

“I don’t know how you could miss me when we talk on the phone every day,” Kira joked.

Mrs. Yukimura chuckled, “You know it’s not the same as having you home with us.”

“I know, Mom, I know,” Kira said. She looked over and saw Derek awkwardly standing there, waiting for an introduction, as she greeted her parents. “Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Derek. Derek, meet my parents.”

“Nice to meet you, Sir,” Derek greeted as he shook Mr. Yukimura’s hand. He then turned to shake Mrs. Yukimura’s hand, “You too, Ma’am.”

Mrs. Yukimura laughed and shook her head as she slapped his hand away and pulled him into a hug. “Oh, no need with the Sirs and Ma’ams. Call me Noshiko; Mrs. Yukimura is Ken’s mother.”

Derek froze with shock when Noshiko pulled him into a hug, but he quickly shook it off and returned the hug. “Then, it’s nice to meet you, Noshiko.”

“That’s much better,” Noshiko replied. “It’s nice to meet you too, Derek.”

“Well then, you should call me, Ken, instead of Mr. Yukimura or Sir,” Mr. Yukimura said. After a quick glance around their surroundings, he added, “We should probably get going. Traffic is going to be hectic.”

“You kids grab your things and head outside to wait. Ken and I are going to go bring the car around,” Noshiko said. She and Ken left to go pull up the car.

Once Kira’s parents were out of earshot, Derek leaned down to Kira and asked, “Is your mom always like that?”

Kira giggled and shook her head. “No, only around the holidays,” she answered.

Derek let out a sigh in relief. “Oh thank god. I don’t think I’d be able to handle that much pep every time we visited.” He blushed slightly after realizing what he had just said, but Kira didn’t notice. He jokingly added, “I already have your sunny disposition to handle on a regular basis. I have a strict one sunshine-and-rainbows person policy.”

“Make fun, Hale, but you know you need me to balance out your grumpiness,” Kira replied, laughing and smiling. “Come on, let’s go check up to Mom and Dad.”

The two of them walked out of the airport to meet the Yukimuras at the car. Ken and Derek packed the suitcases into the trunk while Kira and Noshiko got in the car. Once everything was packed up, the two men also got into the car and then drove off.

The drive back to the Yukimuras’ wasn’t too long. They made small talk the whole way home. Derek and Ken bonded over their love of history. Kira couldn’t help but smile as she watched the two most important men in her life bond.

Once they got back to the house, they unloaded the car and went into the house. Noshiko and Ken told Derek and Kira to go settle in to their room and rest up for a little bit before they all went out for dinner.

 

* * *

 

Everything was going great until Kira realized that she and Derek hadn’t discussed their room arrangements. It wasn’t like they could sleep in different rooms because that would raise suspicions with her parents since Derek and she were supposed to be “dating.”

“I figured you two would be staying in your old room, Kira,” Noshiko called out as they entered the house. ‘You should go unpack and maybe rest for a little bit.”

“We have reservations for dinner at eight,” Ken said. “But for now, you two should settle in, and then Kira can show you around the house, Derek.”

Kira ended up leading Derek up the stairs and to her old bedroom. She laid her suitcase down on the bed and motioned for Derek to do the same.

“Can you pass me the stuff that needs to be hung up? I’ll make some room in the closet for them,” Kira said, turning to go fix the closet. She was trying to avoid discussing their sleeping arrangements.

Derek nodded and then began to open the suitcases. “I’ll start unpacking then.”

Derek would pass Kira various shirts and dresses to be hung up in the closet. Once she was done hanging up the clothing that needed to be hung, Kira cleared out a couple of drawers in her dresser for Derek to put his other clothes in. It took a few minutes for them to unpack, but it was finally time for the two of them to discuss the sleeping arrangements.

Kira’s face light up bright red when she looked back and forth between the bed and Derek. She tried to quickly shake off her embarrassment. “So about the sleeping arrangements…” she trailed off.

“Kira, it’s fine,” Derek reassured her. “Your parents think we’re dating, so they would find it strange if we weren’t sleeping in the same room. We’re both adults; we can share a bed. Unless you’re uncomfortable with that, I could always sleep on the floor.”

Kira’s eyes widened at Derek’s offer. “Oh, no, no,” she answered. “You’re my guest here. I don’t want to make you sleep on the floor. We can share the bed.”

Derek smiled. “It will be like the times we fell asleep together on the couch,” he said. “Just instead of a couch, it will be on a bed.”

Kira nodded and smiled back. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s no different than what we’ve already done before,” she replied. “So it’s settled; we’ll share the bed.”

“Glad we solved that problem,” Derek said. He then motioned to the door. “We should probably head back downstairs to your parents.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Kira said, leading the way out the door. They joined Ken and Noshiko in the living room for some more small talk before the four of them left together to go out to dinner.

 

* * *

 

When they finally pulled up to _Fritzi‘s_ , a local Italian restaurant, Noshiko, Kira, and Derek headed into the lobby to wait while Ken parked the car. Kira had went up to the maître d’ that Yukimura party of four was there, but Noshiko told her that it was actually party of ten and that they woul have to wait for the rest of the party to arrive.

“Ten?” Kira asked, very confused. “I thought it was just going to be the four of us.”

“Oh, no, Sweetie, I thought it would be best if we introduce Derek to the rest of the family early on in the visit, that way he’ll know everyone when it comes to the holiday parties,” Noshiko answered. “We’ve invited the Sheriff and his wife, Melissa, and their sons. And of course wherever there is Scott and Stiles, there are their girlfriends, Allison and Malia. Those four are as thick as thieves. I know technically the Stilinski-McCall family isn’t actually our family, but we spend so much time together that they’re practically family.”

Kira smiled a bit uneasily at her mother. “That’s so nice, Mom,” Kira said. “But I’m worried about Derek getting overwhelmed at meeting so many people at once without any warning before hand.”

“He’s going to have to meet all of them anyway. Might as well meet them all now,” Noshiko responded. She turned to Derek. “You’re fine with meeting everyone now, right?”

Derek smiled at her. “I’m fine. I’m sure I can handle it,” he answered. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

Ken laughed and patted Derek on the back. “I wouldn’t write any checks that your mouth can’t cash, son. While the rest of the family is good, the boys can be quite the handful.”

Just as Derek was about to reply, the door opened and two people came running in. They tried to slow down and stop, but they ended up slammed right into them. They were two young men, about Kira’s age, but they had a boyish charm to them. The one was pale with moles scattered across his skin and the other had a golden tan and a crooked jaw. They both filled with so much energy. As soon as they saw Kira, they ran over to her.

“Kira!” Crooked Jaw cried out as he picked her up and spun her around as he hugged her. As soon as he let go of her, Moles greeted her and gave her a big hug.

She laughed at their antics. “Scott, Stiles. It’s so good to see you guys again,” Kira greeted. She then turned to Derek to introduce him. “I want you guys to meet Derek, my boyfriend. Derek, this is Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski.”

Scott and Stiles took turns shaking Derek’s hand and greeting him. The two boys then leaned in towards Kira to congratulate her on picking such an attractive guy to be her boyfriend. After congratulating Kira, Scott and Stiles then turned back to Derek to threaten him that if he ever hurt Kira, they would kill him. The only problem was that a chihuahua would be more threatening than the two of them.

Two girls and an older couple walked in not too long after Scott and Stiles made their grand entrance. The older couple went over to greet Noshiko and Ken while the two girls came over to Derek, Kira, Scott, and Stiles. The girl with long black hair and in a sweater-dress came over and kissed Scott on the cheek before hugging Kira.

“It’s so good to see you again, Kira,” the girl said. She then turned and saw Derek standing there. She stuck her hand out toward Derek. “Hi, I’m Allison.”

Derek shook her hand. “I’m Derek. It’s nice to meet you.”

Allison gestured to the girl in a flannel and shorts, despite it being winter, who was currently hugging Kira. “That’s Malia.”

Once Malia was done hugging Kira, she smiled and nodded toward Derek, acknowledging and greeting him without saying anything.

“So how do you know Kira?” Allison asked, trying to have a conversation with him.

Derek smiled. “I’m her boyfriend,” he answered.

Both Allison and Malia’s eyes narrowed and they frowned slightly. “Boyfriend?” Malia asked.

“Yes,” Derek answered, confused about the conversation’s sudden shift in tone.

Suddenly both girls were in his face, making threats to kill him if he ever hurt Kira or broke her heart. While the boys weren’t any good at making threats, Allison and Malia were a force to be reckoned with. Once Derek had convinced them that he would never hurt Kira, the conversation took on a more pleasant tone again.

Noshiko and Ken introduced Derek to the older couple, John and Melissa, before the let the maître d’ know that their whole party was there and that they were ready to be seated.

They were soon seated. After placing their orders with the waiter, the group spent their time catching up on old times and updating each other on the new things in their lives. Derek learned a lot about Kira’s friends and family.

He learned that Melissa and John got married a few years ago, but they had known each other for years and their sons, Scott and Stiles, have been best friends their whole lives. Melissa had been best friends with John’s first wife, Claudia, and the reason why they waited so long to start dating and later marry was because she thought it would be disrespectful to Claudia to start dating her husband after she had died. After a few years had passed, they realized that Claudia would want them to be happy, but they took their relationship slow out of respect for Claudia.

He learned that Kira and Scott had dated for a little bit in high school. They dated shortly after he and Allison had broken up. It was a mutual break-up and Allison had to reassure both of them repeatedly that she was okay with it before they had started dating. Allison had started dating their mutual friend, Isaac, at that time. The relationships didn’t last long, but they all remained good friends. Scott and Kira realized that there wasn’t any romantic spark between them, so they decided that they were better off as friends. Around the time of Scott and Kira’s break-up, they all learned that Isaac’s older brother, Camden, got stationed at an army base in Texas and would have to move. Allison and Isaac thought that a long distance relationship would be too hard for them and decided that they should break up. They remained friends and still kept in touch. Not too long after that, Allison and Scott got back together and have together even since.

Everyone was getting along and Derek was getting to learn more about Kira. The night was going well. Kira was glad that her friends and family accepted Derek into their group.

 

* * *

 

When Kira had asked Allison to pass the breadsticks, she noticed a certain ring on Allison’s finger. “Oh my god,” she gasped, staring wide-eyed at the ring.

Allison looked down to see what Kira was gasping at. She smiled and said, “I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice. Scott proposed. We didn’t want to make a fuss about it tonight, so we were going to make an announcement about it later in the week.”

Kira held Allison’s hand so that she could admire the ring. “It’s so pretty,” she said. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

Allison smiled. “Thank you.”

“Have you thought of a date yet?” Kira asked.

“Not yet,” Allison replied.

Scott chimed in, “But we are thinking of having it in the fall.”

“We thought it would be nice to have it out in the Persevere when all the leaves are turning,” Allison said.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Kira said, smiling at the happy couple.

“Will you be one of my bridesmaids?” Allison asked. “Lydia already claimed the role of maid of honor by helping us plan everything and Malia is also going to be a bridesmaid.”

“I would be honored,” Kira replied, smiling.

Scott then turned to Derek. “I know that we don’t really know each other that well, but will you be one of my groomsmen?” he asked. “You’re a part of Kira’s life and that makes you a part of our life too.”

Derek nodded. “I’ll be one of your groomsmen if you want me to,” he answered. “But don’t you want to actually get to know me first before you add me to your wedding party?

“We are going to get to know each other over the holidays,” Scott replied. “And Kira is a good judge of character. If she likes you, then I’ll like you too.”

After that, the previous conversation carried on. The group was very welcoming to Derek, which Kira was thankful for. She didn’t know what she would do if her friends and family hadn’t be so nice and welcoming to Derek.

Once dinner was over, the group made plans to meet up later in the week. After they made their plans, they all said goodbye and parted ways. Once Ken, Noshiko, Kira, and Derek returned to the Yukimura house, they all said good night to one another and headed off to be because it was getting late.

Derek and Kira changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed together. Kira blushed when she came into contact with Derek but quickly shook off her embarrassment, knowing that they’re both adults and are capable of sharing a bed without making it awkward. She rolled over to turn out the light once they were both settled in and then went to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Kira woke up that morning having to pee but also feeling hot, the second sensation didn’t make any sense to her until she remembered that she was sharing a bed with Derek. He was practically a furnace when it came to body heat. Sometime during the night, the two of them cuddled up with each other. Now, Kira was trying to escape the entanglement of sheets and limbs without waking Derek.

She tried to pick up and move the arm that Derek had thrown over her in his sleep, but Derek had groaned in his sleep and pulled her closer to him. All of the progress Kira had made in attempting to leave the bed had been foiled.

“Derek, let go,” Kira gruffed, as she tried to escape once more. Derek made what sounded like a noise of protest as he snuggled up close to her.

Finally giving up on attempting to leave the bed quietly, Kira decided that the only way she could get out of the bed was to wake Derek. She shook his arm and called out, “Derek, wake up!”

After a few minutes of shaking him and calling out his name, Derek finally woke up. He looked up at Kira all groggy. If it wasn’t for the fact that Kira really needed to get up to pee, she would have thought that sleepy Derek with his bedhead was the cutest thing that she ever saw. When Derek realized that Kira needed to get up and he was the one keeping her, he apologized and let her get up.

When Kira got to the bathroom, her face was bright red with embarrassment. She liked the way that Derek had been holding her, but she knew that he didn’t mean anything by it. They had said that they were both mature enough to share a bed, but Kira was beginning to question their decision. Being so close to Derek like that was stirring up her feelings for him. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, thinking about how nice it would be to be able to cuddle with Derek like that as his actual girlfriend and to actually kiss him. While she was busy drowning in her thoughts and feelings, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

“Kira, I sorry about earlier,” Derek called out. He waited a few seconds for a response and then knocked again. “Are you okay in there?”

Derek’s voice pulled Kira out of her thoughts and back into reality. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” she answered, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

“Kira, will you please come out here?” Derek asked. “It would be easier for us to talk if there wasn’t a door blocking us.”

“Just give me a minute,” she called out. Kira splashed her face with some cold water to try to get rid of the redness in her face and to help calm herself down. She took a few deep breathes to regulate her breathing. Once she was sure that she was calmed down enough, she opened the bathroom down. She came face to face with Derek and asked, “You wanted something?”

Derek nodded. “I wanted to apologize for–”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Kira interrupted.

“But Kira, I’m so–” Derek tried to apologize again.

“Derek! There is nothing to apologize for,” Kira interrupted once again. “I already knew that you have a habit of clinging to the closest object when you’re asleep; whether it’s a pillow, a blanket, or a person doesn’t matter, you’ll still snuggle up with it. Derek, it’s no big deal. I already knew this when I agreed to share the bed with you.”

“But you practically ran out of the room. I thought I made you uncomfortable with, well, ahem, you know,” Derek said, blushing as he tried to explain what he was worried had upset.

Kira couldn’t help put stifle a giggle at Derek blushing and stammering with his words. Whenever he blushed, the tips of his ears would turn bright pink, and Kira thought it made him looks so adorable. “Derek, I had to pee,” Kira explained. “It had nothing to do with that; I know that _that_ is a normal bodily function that you can’t help.”

A look of confusion appeared across Derek’s face. “So you weren’t trying to get away from me?” he asked.

“No,” Kira answered, shaking her head. “I just had to pee.”

Derek nodded. “So, everything’s okay between us?”

“We’re good,” Kira said, nodding back.

“Oh, okay,” Derek said. “I’m going to head back to the room now; I’ll let you finish whatever you were doing in here then.”

Derek left and Kira retreated back into the bathroom. She shut the door and let out a sigh. Derek was so kind and sweet to her. His concern for her comfort was adding to her growing feelings for him. She had no clue how she was going to survive the week pretending to date him when every little thing he did made her fall more and more in love with him.

Kira finished up in the bathroom and then headed back to the bedroom, to carry on with the rest of the day. She wasn’t going to let her feelings for Derek ruin her holidays. Once they went back to New York, everything would go back to normal, she hoped.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, Noshiko announced that they would be having a family game night in order for all of them to get to know each other better. Kira knew it was just another way for her mother to test Derek to see if he was worthy of dating her only daughter. She just hoped that they wouldn’t play any game that would get too competitive like Monopoly, but of course that would be the game her mother wanted to play.

Luckily, Ken shot down Noshiko’s idea for playing Monopoly in favor of suggesting Pictionary. Kira could work with that; all she needed was to have Derek on her team and make sure that they lose to her parents. Noshiko always got way too competitive when it came to game night. If she and Derek beat her mother, Noshiko might to think too fondly of Derek anymore. Kira wanted her parents to continue to like Derek, so she would make sure that they lost the game. 

“Why don’t you be on my team, Derek?” Ken said, unknowingly ruining Kira’s plan.

Derek looked over to Kira as if to check if it was okay if he teamed up with her father for family game night. After she gave him a small smile and a nod, Derek agreed to be Ken’s teammate.

“Kira, you’re on my team then. We’ll do boys versus girls tonight,” Noshiko announced. “The losing team is in charge of getting dinner ready.”

After the teams and winners’ spoils were decided, Ken got out the game for them and the real competition began. Both Noshiko and Ken were competitive, but Noshiko was much worse when it came to losing. Kira knew that if her father lost, it wouldn’t that big of a deal like it would be if her mother lost.

That night was actually much more fun than Kira had expected. She worried about how either one of her parents would react if they lost, but that didn’t seem to matter to them. They seemed to be having a good time just being able to spend quality time with Kira and Derek.

Even though Ken and Noshiko had been welcoming to Derek when they first met him and when they took him to meet all their friends and family at the restaurant, this seemed to be the first time they truly accepted and welcomed Derek into their family. Kira couldn’t help but think of what it would be like for the four of them to have more family game nights together over the years. The idea of having a long future with Derek made Kira smiled. She started to zone out from the game to daydream about a future with him.

It wasn’t until Kira heard her mother arguing with her father did she snap out of her daydream. Noshiko accused Ken of cheating by putting some letters in his drawing. Kira realized that she really needed to get her head in the game at the point. Ken and Derek ended up forfeiting the point for that round. Once the dispute was settled, they carried on with the game.

Their fun little game of Pictionary took on a more competitive tone. Neither Ken nor Noshiko wanted to lose the game. Kira and Derek could help but sit back and laugh at the older adults’ antics. They both tried to help get into the competitive spirit for the sake of their teammate, but neither really cared about winning that much. Kira hoped that she and her mother would win just so her mother would remain in a good mood, but as the night wore on, her concerns for winning began to diminish.

By the end of the night, the two teams were neck and neck. It came down to one final card to determine the winner. When Kira and Derek looked at card, they both shot each other a confused look since neither of them knew what to draw for it.

After staring at the blank paper for a few minutes, they were able to think of something to draw. Kira and Derek sloppily drew pictures meant to illustrate old fairytales. Kira drew Goldilocks and the three bears; Derek drew little Red Riding Hood with the Big Bad Wolf. Neither Noshiko nor Ken were able to guess what it was, so Kira and Derek kept drawing other fairytales. Noshiko  and Ken were still unable to guess the word. Everyone was getting frustrated with the game; they just wanted to know who won and then go eat dinner.

Finally Kira grabbed another sheet of paper and drew what sort of looked like a fairy on it. She then drew a plus sign and a mermaid. She crossed out the top half of the mermaid and put an arrow pointing to the mermaid’s tale. She prayed that Noshiko would finally be able to get it. She kept pointing back and forth between the picture, hoping that her mother would catch on.

A look of realization spread across Noshiko’s face. “Oh, oh, fairytale,” she shouted out. “It’s a fairytale.”

“Yes!” Kira shouted back, relieved that someone finally got it. She and Noshiko had officially won the game, so they could all finally stop playing and go eat dinner.

Noshiko turned to her husband and smirked. “Guess it time for you boys to get started on dinner.”

Ken just smiled at his wife. Suddenly the door bell rang, he got up without a word to her and headed over to the door to answer it. Derek got up and went with him. When they returned, they were both carrying pizzas.

“I ordered pizza during the bathroom break,” Ken explained, deciding to clear up Noshiko’s confusion. “I figured they would get here by the time we finished the game and then losers could pay for them, thus completing their role in taking care of getting dinner.”

Noshiko smiled and laughed. “Who knew I married such a smart man?” she joked as she gave Ken a kiss on the check.

The four of them enjoyed the pizza together before heading off to bed for the night. Noshiko reminded Kira that she and Derek should go to the mall earlier tomorrow morning if they needed to finish up some Christmas shopping. After they were done eating and Derek and Kira cleaned everything up, they went off to bed so that they could get up early the next morning.

 

* * *

 

Derek and Kira got up early that morning so that they could try to avoid the crowds at the mall. After breakfast, they headed out the door. Despite getting up early to avoid the crowds, the mall was still very crowded with last minute shoppers; however, they did manage to get a good parking spot.

“So are we going to stay together?” Derek asked as they walked through the parking lot towards the mall. “Or should we divide and conquer to get all the shopping done?”

“Maybe we should wait and see how many people are here before we come up with our battle plan,” Kira answered.

When they got into the mall and saw how many people were actually there, Kira began to feel a little claustrophobic. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. Derek gave her hand a squeeze to let her know that he was there for her.

Kira managed to calm down not to long after that. They decided it would be best if they stayed together and to try to stay in the less populated areas of the mall just in case Kira started to feel claustrophobic again. Surprisingly it wasn’t that hard. Whenever there was an announcement over the loud speaker about a sale at a specific store at a specific time, Derek and Kira would go to the opposite side of the mall to shop so that they avoided the crowds of people flocking toward the sale.

It got to the point that their crowd dodging tactic became more of a game to them than just a means of surviving the holiday mobs.

“At one o’clock, I bet the sale is at _Forever 21_ ,” Derek said as he and Kira exited a small bookstore.

“What makes you think that?” Kira asked as she put some of her smaller shopping bags into the larger bags, trying to make it easier to carry all her gifts.

Derek reached over and took Kira’s heaviest bag to carry for her. “The sales announcements seem to be rotating from one side of the mall to the other. _Forever 21_ is on the left side of the mall and since the last sale was a store on the right side of the mall, the next sales announcement must be about a store on the left side of the mall,” he explained.

“But why _Forever 21_?” Kira asked.

“Because that’s the only major store on the left side that hasn’t gotten an announcement yet,” Derek said.

“I guess that makes sense,” Kira replied. “But if you’re wrong, you’re buying me a latte from _Starbucks_.”

“If I’m right, _you’re_ buying _me_ a coffee,” Derek retorted, smiling playfully at Kira.

“You got yourself a deal,” Kira remarked, smiling up at Derek. She stuck out her hand to shake his, like they were closing a deal on a house, rather than making a silly wager on where the next sale would be located in the mall.

As the two of them walked around the mall looking for another store to go shop at, the announcement came over the loud-speaker.

_Attention shoppers! From one o’clock to two, there will be a sale at Forever 21. The whole store will be 50% off, some restrictions apply. We hope to see you there._

Derek turned to Kira and grinned. “See, I told you it would be at _Forever 21_ ,” he said. “I believe you owe me a coffee now.”    

Kira laughed and then grabbed him by the arm and pulled. “Come on, _Starbucks_ is this way,” she said, leading Derek to the coffee shop as they tried to avoid the crowd racing down to _Forever 21_.

When they finally got to _Starbucks_ , Derek took their bags and found them a table to sit at while Kira stood in line and order their drinks. The place wasn’t as crowded as it usually was because everyone was out shopping. After a few minutes, Kira returned to their table with their drinks in hand. She took a sip of hers as she handed Derek his and sat down at the table.

Derek looked at the drink with a confused look on his face. “What is this?” he asked, frowning slightly.

“A gingerbread latte,” Kira answered, looking up from her own drink. “They’re so good, but they’re only seasonal. I figured we might as well have them now before they get rid of them til next year.”

Derek gave Kira a polite smile that looked a bit more like a grimace as he pushed the latte over to her. “Since you really like them, you can have mine. I’m going to go get another coffee,” he said, politely declining the drink that Kira had gotten him.

“Why?” Kira asked, feeling a little hurt that Derek wasn’t going to drink the latte that he got him. “Have you had the gingerbread lattes?”

“No. I’m sorry, it’s just that I don’t like them,” Derek explained, trying to keep from hurting Kira’s feelings any more than he already did.

“If you haven’t had one before, how do you know you don’t like it?” Kira asked, passing the latte back to Derek. “At least take a sip to actually try it. If you don’t like it, then I’ll take it and you can go get yourself a drink that you like.”

Derek nodded and picked up the latte. Right before taking a sip, he said, “Okay, I’ll try it. Just one sip though.”

Kira smiled as one small sip turned into one large gulp. “So what do you think?” she asked. “Do you like it?”

Derek put the almost empty cup down on the table. “That was actually really good. Thank you,” he responded. “I think I’m going to have to get that again next time we come to _Starbucks_.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Kira said. “See, it’s much better to try new things than it is to reject them just because you haven’t had it before. You never know what will become your new favorite thing.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I think this is my new favorite drink,” Derek replied.

“Good,” Kira said as she began to get up from the table and pick up their bags. “Come on, we need to finish up the rest of our shopping.”

Derek finished up his latte before throwing away both his and Kira’s empty cups. He then took the heavier bags from Kira to carry before they left the coffee shop to go finish their Christmas shopping.

After a few more hours of shopping, they finally got all of their gifts and decided to head back home for the night. When they got back home, the two of them spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching the Christmas specials on the television before calling it a night and going to bed.    

 

* * *

 

Derek and Kira woke up to the smell of Christmas cookies. They quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to find out where that smell was coming from. It turned out that Noshiko and Ken were in the kitchen baking cookies. Noshiko looked up at them and smiled, already planning to put them to work.

“Wash your hands and then start rolling out this dough Derek,” Noshiko ordered. “Kira, you wash your hands, too, and get the cookie cutters ready.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Derek answered as he went over the sink to wash his hands.

Kira wasn’t quite as willing to be put to work baking cookies right after getting up. “What about breakfast?” she asked, frowning slightly.

“The first batch of cookies didn’t come out well enough to be used for the Christmas party,” Noshiko replied. “They’re a little burnt on the bottom, but you can eat those.”

“Fine,” Kira responded. She went over to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. She then got the cookie cutters out of the cabinet and laid them on the counter. Once she was done that, she grabbed herself a couple of cookies to eat. She noticed that Derek had went straight to work on the dough and didn’t grab anything to eat, so she fed him a cookie as he rolled out the cookie dough for the next batch. He thanked her and continued to do what Noshiko had asked him to.

Once the dough was rolled out, Noshiko ordered the two of them to start cutting out the cookies. “Try to fit as many of the shapes as possible,” she advised.

Kira picked up the gingerbread man-shaped cookie cutter for herself and handed Derek the Christmas tree-shaped one. “Want to see who can fit more of their cutter on the batch?” she asked, smiling mischievously.

“Oh, you’re so on,” Derek answered, getting into the competitive spirit. And with that, they were off punching their cutters into the dough, trying to fill it up faster than the other. They kept elbowing each other in the sides, trying to get the other person to lose their momentum and stop pressing in cookies. It was a fun race for them; they couldn’t stop laughing and giggling at each other’s antics.

“Remember that your mother wants these to be presentable,” Ken warned. “We’re already going to be spending most of the day making these cookies. We don’t want to have to spend any more time than necessary to remake a batch because you took were goofing off. I want you guys to have fun, but be careful with what you’re doing.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Kira apologized. “We’ll be more careful.”

“Good,” Ken responded. “Now you should start peeling away the extra dough. Make sure you save it though; we can always press it into balls to make some normally shaped cookies.”

Ken headed back over to Noshiko to help her take the current batch of cookies out of the oven while Derek started to peel away the extra dough. Kira grabbed a clean bowl for them to put the extra dough in so that they could use it later. Once all the excess dough was removed, Kira took the tray over to Noshiko so she could put it in the oven. Noshiko handed Kira the tray of already baked cookies.

“You need to let them cool first, but I want you and Derek to decorate them,” she instructed. “The icing is on the dining room table. Make sure you wash your hands again, since you were handling raw cookie dough, before you start decorating them.”

Kira laid the tray down on the table with the decoration stuff and then headed back over to the sink to wash her hands again. She let Derek know that he needed to wash his hands too and help her decorate the cookies. Ken had already taken their bowl of extra dough and started to roll them up to make some more cookies.

After washing his hands, Derek joined Kira over at the dining room table. They had to wait for the cookies to cool before they could do anything, so they sat there to talk for a little bit. Kira reached across the table and grabbed a cookie off the tray to eat.

“Hot, hot, oh god, that’s hot,” Kira cried out, as the cookie fell out of her mouth and onto the table.

Derek couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “I would assume that they were hot, Kira, seeing how they just came out of the oven,” he joked. “Besides, aren’t we not supposed to eat these ones?”

Kira’s eyes narrowed at Derek. “There’s an unspoken rule of the kitchen: for every batch of cookies, at least three of them must be eaten to make sure that the batch is good,” she answered, solemnly. Then her voice took on a more playful tone as she picked up another cookie and offered it to Derek. “Plus these are way better than the first batch since they’re not burnt. Here, try one.”

Derek looked down at the cookie, a look of hesitation on his face. “I think I’ll pass,” he said, rejecting the cookie.

“Chicken,” Kira taunted, as she ate the cookie she originally offered to Derek.

“I’m not chicken,” he protested. “I just don’t want to get in trouble with your father. He seem really serious about making these cookies.”

“That’s exactly what a chicken would say,” Kira teased, handing Derek another cookie. “Trust me, they don’t care.”

Derek still hesitated before taking the cookie. He slowly raised it up to his mouth to take a bite. Just as he took his first bite, Ken walked out to into the dining room. Derek froze up like a deer caught in the headlights of a car when he saw Ken, but Ken didn’t seem to mind that he was eating a cookie. In fact, Ken kissed Kira on the top of her head, grabbed a cookie for himself, and told her not to tell her mother before he retreated back into the kitchen.

“See?” Kira prompted. “He doesn’t care. It’s my mother you have to worry about, but as long as she doesn’t see you, it doesn’t matter.”

Derek nodded and let out a sigh of relief.

“Although we probably shouldn’t eat anymore from this batch,” Kira said, “We don’t want to raise any suspicions. We’ll just have to wait to eat some more from the next batch.”

For the rest of the day, they fell into a pattern of cutting out cookies to be placed into the oven, stealing a few cookies from the newest batch straight out of the oven, and then decorating that batch once it cooled down enough. Every so often, Ken would come out to join them to steal a cookie. By the end of the night, they must have made at least a dozen batches and had both eaten at least a whole batch each.

“Oh god, I’m stuffed,” Derek groaned. “I don’t think I could eat anything else for the rest of the night.”

“Well it’s a good thing you won’t have to,” Kira responded. “Whenever we bake cookies, we never actually make dinner because we all fill up on cookies.”

“Oh, thank god,” Derek breathed a sigh of relief. The two of them ended up heading up to bed not too long after that because they were both so tired and stuffed from making and eating cookies all day.

All and all it was a good day for them. They spent the day bonding over making and eating Christmas cookies. Even Derek and Ken bonded over the cookies. 

 

* * *

 

 

When Derek and Kira woke up that morning, their plan was to spend the day relaxing. The past couple of days they had been busy getting ready for Christmas by doing last minute shopping and baking cookies that would be served at upcoming Christmas parties. Tomorrow night was the Christmas Eve party, but that day they didn’t have anything to do.

They spent the day in the house watching Christmas movies. Even Ken and Noshiko joined them for a movie or two. It was a nice lazy day to do nothing.

Unfortunately their plans of doing nothing but relaxing and watching Christmas movies were interrupted when someone knocked on the door. Kira got up from the couch to open the door, only to find Allison, Malia, Scott, and Stiles standing on their front porch decked out in their most festive outerwear on.

The four of them were all wearing santa hats dressed similarly, but their own unique style still shown through. Allison had on a fashionable red peacoat and a big wooly scarf. Scott had a green denim jacket on over an “ugly” Christmas sweater that was still pretty fashionable. The two of them looked like one of the couples out of a store’s Christmas catalog.

Malia and Stiles, on the other hand, looked very different than them. They were both wearing flannels over top of t-shirts meant to look like ugly Christmas sweaters. Malia’s was red while Stiles’ was green. Malia was still wearing shorts, despite it being winter, but she also had on red and green striped thigh-high socks.

“Ready to go?” Scott greeted when Kira opened the door. After realizing that Kira was still in her pajamas, he asked, “Did you forget about our plans for the night?”

Kira was a little shocked about all friends showing up on her doorstep and expecting her to go out. “What plans?” she asked.

“To go caroling,” Allison clarified. She pulled two santa hats out of her jacket’s pocket and held them up to show her. “We brought you and Derek santa hats so we’ll all match.”

“I didn’t realize we made plans to go caroling,” Kira admitted, a little embarrassed that she forgot that they had made plans.

“Well, we didn’t make plans, per say,” Stiles explained. “But we also go caroling Christmas Eve’s eve, so it pretty much became a tradition.”

Scott noticed that Kira felt a little awkward standing there in her pajamas while the rest of them were already dressed. “If you already had plans or just don’t want to go, that’s okay. We’ll see you guys tomorrow for the Christmas Eve party anyway,” he said, trying to give Kira an out if she didn’t want to go.

“Oh, no, that’s okay. All we planned on doing for the day was watching some Christmas movies,” Kira replied. She gestured for them to come into the house.  “Come on in. I’ll let Derek know about the caroling.”

The four of them entered the house and followed Kira into the living room. Kira went over to Derek to talk to him about going out caroling with the gang. He agreed and the two of them left the others in the living room while they headed up to the bedroom to change out of their pajamas and into regular clothes.

As they left to go upstairs, Malia called out jokingly, “Go get dressed, dumbass." A few seconds later, she added, “Make sure you wear red and he wears green.”

When they got back to the bedroom, Derek grabbed a plain white shirt and black jeans and then headed off to the bathroom to change. Kira rummaged through her drawers and found a red plaid skirt and a black sweater. Kira quickly changed into the outfit and grabbed her red leather jacket out of the closet. She also grabbed Derek’s green one before heading out to the hallway to wait for him.

As soon as Derek came out of the bathroom, Kira handed him his jacket and the two of them headed back downstairs to the rest of the gang. All six of them left the house shortly after that.

Kira knew that Derek had never been Christmas caroling before. She worried that he wouldn’t enjoy himself, but every so often he would give her hand a light squeeze and send her a quick smile to show her that he was having a good time.

The six of them fell into a routine with each house: whoever was closes to the doorbell would ring it; Allison, Malia, and Derek, the three of them that could actually sing, would start singing first to make sure the people didn’t slam the door in their faces; and then later in the song, Kira, Scott, and Stiles would come in and loudly singing, often off key. Even though the three of them couldn’t sing well, they still put so much heart into it that the people they were singing for didn’t seem to mind how tone-deaf they actually were. By the time they were all done singing, they would be laughing and joking about whatever song they just sang.

After about seven houses, the group decided to call it quits for the night since it was getting late. They all parted ways and headed back to their respective houses. Derek and Kira spent the rest of the night talking about their fun night out with Kira’s friends before heading off to bed. Derek really liked Kira’s friends and couldn’t wait to hang out with them more.

 

* * *

 

The next day was Christmas Eve, and there was a lot to do before the party that night. Noshiko had Derek, Ken, and Kira running all over town for last minute party preparations. They finally had everything done and ready for the party just under an hour for the party to start.

The Argents were the first to arrive at the party. Chris was making small talk with Ken and Noshiko while Allison went straight over to Derek and Kira. The three kids talked about how much fun they had with each the other night.

Malia, Scott, and Stiles showed up not to long after them. They greeted everyone and let Noshiko know that the Sheriff and Melissa may be a little late. John was coming straight from work at the police station and Melissa was going to go home and change after her shift at the hospital before coming over.

About an hour into the party, John and Melissa arrived, so they weren’t as late as everyone had expected. They were welcomed and the festivities continued.

The party divided into two different sections: the parents and the kids. Despite the divided groups, everyone still mingled with each other. The parents often asked the various kids about how their lives were going and how they were doing in college.

It wasn’t until someone brought out the spiked eggnog did the party get interesting. Everyone was becoming much livelier as the drinks began to flow and the night went on. Scott and Stiles got drunk off of eggnog and decided to serenade Allison and Malia in front of everyone with a off-key, but lively rendition of Mariah Carey’s _All I Want for Christmas is You_. Kira took that as her cue to go get herself another drink and attempt to save her ears from the boys’ awful singing.

All in all, it was a great party until someone pointed out the mistletoe hanging over the doorway that Kira had just walked through.

“Derek, dude, you got to kiss her,” Stiles slurred, as he leaned against Scott for support. Malia plucked his cup out of his hand and let him know he was cut off for the night.

“Don’t call me ‘dude,’” Derek said dismissively to Stiles before taking a few steps closer to Kira.

Kira’s face went bright red when she looked up at the mistletoe dangling above her. “No. We’re not really into PDA,” she protested.

“But it’s tradition. You have to,” Stiles whined. Everyone else began to cheer them on to kiss.

Derek looked down at Kira. “I’m okay with it if you are,” he whispered so that only she could hear. “They’re probably going to keep this up until we kiss.”

“Okay, fine,” Kira said, standing up on her tiptoes to give Derek a peck on the check.

“That’s not a real kiss,” Allison pointed out. “It has to be a real kiss for it to count.”

Derek then leaned down to Kira and kissed her on the lips. It was a rather chaste kiss, but still a kiss, nevertheless. His lips were much softer than Kira had expected. The kiss was also very short; by the time Kira realized that he was kissing her, he had pulled away.

“That’s much better,” Allison said, clapping for them. Everyone went back to the previous conversations after Derek and Kira’s kiss.

The rest of the night was a blur for Kira because she was too busy thinking about that kiss. It had stirred up the feelings for Derek that she had tried to suppress. Kira wasn’t sure how she could get through this holiday with her heart still intact. She just knew that she’d end up with a broken heart by the end of this ruse. She was so in love with Derek, but he only liked her as a friend.

Kira was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice that the party had ended and everyone had went home until Noshiko had suggested that they finish cleaning up and then head to bed because of how tired they looked.

That night had trouble sleeping next to Derek. She was hyper-aware of how close they were, and she could stop thinking about how in love she was with him. Eventually she did fall asleep, and when she did, she dreamed about having a wonderful future with Derek.

 

* * *

 

Christmas Day was a much more intimate affair than Christmas Eve. Only Derek, Ken, Kira, and Noshiko were there for it. Once everyone was awake and had eaten breakfast, they all went into the living room to exchange presents.

Ken and Noshiko had gotten Kira a new katana to add to her collection. They warned her that if she wanted to take the sword back to New York with her, they would probably have to mail it because she wouldn’t be able to take it on the plane with her.

They gave Derek an old book of fairytales. They explained that Kira had told them about his love for fairytales and their impact on history and they wanted to get him something that he would like but weren’t sure what to get him. Derek thanked them and told them that he loved the gift.

Kira gave her father a cookbook full of handwritten recipes that she had learned in New York City because she knew how much her dad loved cooking. She gave her mother a new copy of her favorite book because Kira knew how worn down her old copy was getting.

She gave Derek a soft purple sweater. She knew how much Derek loved wearing soft sweaters, so she wanted to get him something he would actually use.

Derek gave Ken a history book on William Shakespeare because that was the first thing that they had bonded over. He gave Noshiko a leather journal because he noticed how she had a collection of them on the bookshelf. They both thanked him for being so thoughtful with the gifts.

The greatest gift of all was the gift that Derek got Kira. It was a necklace with two pendants on it: a fox and a triskelion.

“Derek, it’s beautiful,” Kira breathed. She couldn’t believe her eyes; the necklace was so beautiful. It combined her love of foxes and Derek’s own personal symbol. She knew how important the triskelion was to Derek, and she was so touched that he cared about her enough to give her something with his symbol on it.

“I saw it in the store and just knew I had to get it for you,” Derek admitted, blushing.

Kira turned her back to him and pulled her hair out of the way. “Will you help me put it on?” she asked.

Derek took the necklace from her and clasped it around her neck. “There,” he said. “Perfect.”

Kira thanked him again for the necklace, wanting to make sure he knew how much she loved it.

The rest of the day, the Yukimuras spent indoors watching old Christmas movies together. Every so often, Kira would absent-mindedly play with her necklace. Just the mere thought of it would make her heart swell with joy. She never wanted to take it off. She even wore it to bed that night.

 

* * *

 

Derek told Kira that there was someplace he wanted to take her. He told her to grab her ice skates and to come with him. Whenever she’d ask where they were going, he’d tell her it was a surprise. They ended up taking a long walk in the Beacon Hill Preserve. Kira still had no clue where they were going.

“Derek, where are we going?” Kira asked as she followed Derek down the dirt path, trying to keep up with his long strides. The pair of ice skates that she was carrying bumped into her leg with every step.

“It’s just a little ways ahead, I think,” he answered, glancing around their surroundings as he continued walking forward.

Kira frowned, upset that Derek didn’t actually answer her question.  “You do realize that I grew up in this town, right? If you told me where you’re trying to take me, I could probably find it faster than you can,” Kira said. “If you wanted to go ice skating, it would have been easier if we went to the ice rink downtown.”

“We’re almost there,” Derek replied, ignoring Kira’s complaints. The path they were on was beginning to widen. A little ways away was a clearing in the middle of the woods with a large pond.  It didn’t take too long for them to get to the edge of the clearing. Once they made it there, Derek announced, “Here it is.”

Kira’s eyes went wide with shock as she looked around the clearing. The pond was frozen over and all of the snow around it was undisturbed. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a though they had stumbled upon their own little winter wonderland. “It’s so beautiful,” she exclaimed. A large smile spread across her face.

“Yeah, it is,” Derek agreed softly, looking directly at Kira, rather than their surroundings. After they stood there for a few minutes, taking in their surroundings, Derek took her hand and said, “Come on, let’s go ice skate.”

They walked over to the edge of the pond. There was a log laying on the ground, so Derek brushed the snow off of it and sat down on it to put on his ice skates. He motioned for Kira to sit down with him and put on her own skates.

Despite putting on her skates and originally being excited to go ice skating on the pond, Kira was beginning to have second thoughts. “Is it safe to go out on the ice?” she asked. “I’m not sure if it’s thick enough.”

“It’s fine,” Derek reassured her as he walked out onto the ice and skated a little to show her that the ice would support their weight.

Kira was still a little unsure about skating out on the pond. “Are you sure?” she asked again. “I’ve only ever skated at an ice rink before. I don’t know if I can do this.”

Derek skated back over to Kira. He held out his hand for her to hold. “The only real differences with us skating here than down at the rink is that the ice might be a little bumpier because there is no zamboni to smooth out the ice,” he explained. “Although, we do get this pond all to ourselves, so that’s a plus.”

Kira took a step out onto the ice, still holding Derek’s hand. “I’m still a little scared,” she admitted softly.

Derek moved in closer to her. “It’s okay. I’m right here,” he reassured her. “I’ll hold your hand the whole time, if you want me to.”

Kira thanked him and then began to skate around on the ice. Her movements weren’t as graceful as they would have been if they were at the ice rink, but she did not actually fall down. Derek held her hand and helped to keep her balanced.

In the beginning, Kira had to practically cling to Derek for balance, but as time progressed, she became more and more sure of herself out on the ice. Even though they continued to hold hands, she was able to skate a little ways away from him without being afraid of falling.

They spent what felt like hours skating around that pond. At one point Kira let go of Derek’s hand to skate circles around him. The two of them were busy laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

During one of Kira’s laps around Derek, he reached out and grabbed hold of her hand again. He pulled her, and Kira collided clumsily with his chest. Derek wrapped his arms around her to help steady the two of them so that they wouldn’t fall.

The two of them stood for a while, holding each other, lost in their own little world. Kira looked up at Derek and smiled. He leaned down, as though he was going to kiss her. Kira waited with anticipation for their first kiss without an audience. She couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Derek actually liked her. Maybe they could actually start dating for real in the feelings were mutual.

Their lips were barely an inch apart when Derek pulled back, shattering Kira’s heart in the process. All her dreams of them being an actual couple were destroyed.

“I-I’m sorry,” Derek stammered. “I-I can’t do this.”

Kira was so heartbroken, but she tried her best to not let it show. “We should probably head home now anyway,” she said, trying to lighten the mood and change the subject. “We both have our thesis to work on.

Derek let out what seemed to be a sigh of relief. “We should get going then,” he agreed.

The walk back was uncomfortable for the two of them. An awkward silence hung in the air. Kira wanted to tell Derek about how she felt about him, but she just didn’t know how. What had started out as the perfect day quickly deteriorated into whatever this was. Kira didn’t know if she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry or scream out all of her frustrations. Even though she was battling all these emotions, she kept on a stoic face while with Derek.

After about ten minutes, which felt like a lifetime, they finally made it back to the house. They went inside, and Derek sat down in the living room and got out his laptop to work on his thesis. Kira sat down at the kitchen counter and watched Derek typing away on his laptop. He seemed so unaffected by everything that had happened. Kira couldn’t stand the sight of him being perfectly fine when she felt like a wreck inside, so she knew she had to get out of there.

“I’m going to go take a walk,” Kira announced. “I just need to clear my head. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

She was out the door so fast that she didn’t even get to hear Derek’s response. That was probably for the best; if Kira had spent any longer in the house with him, she would have burst into tears right on the spot.

 

* * *

 

Kira didn’t know where she was going, she just knew she needed to get out and away from Derek for a little bit. Her heart couldn’t take it anymore; the worst part was that Derek didn’t even know what he was going to her. Every little thing he did would give Kira butterflies but she couldn’t let it show because she knew he didn’t feel that way about her. She was so in love with Derek, but he only liked her as a friend.

Kira was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t realize where she had ended up – right in front of the Argent household. She also didn’t realize that she had tears streaming down her face.

Allison had been taking the trash out and saw Kira in distress. “Kira, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asked, very concerned about her friend. “Do you want to come inside and warm up? Maybe then we could talk about it? Only if you want to.”

Allison’s voice snapped Kira out of her own head and back into reality. She nodded softly, still visibly shaken up. Allison put her hands gently on Kira’s shoulders to help guide her into the house.

Once inside the house, Allison had Kira sit down at the kitchen counter while she made them some hot chocolate to warm them up. She handed Kira the mug once it was done. Kira slowly lifted it to her mouth and took a sip.

“So, want to talk about it?” Allison asked once Kira drank some of her hot chocolate and seemed to calm down a bit.

Kira looked up sheepishly at Allison, but when she saw Allison’s big doe eyes, she couldn’t help but spill her guts to her. Kira told her everything. She told her about how Derek agreed to pretend to be her boyfriend because it was easier than trying to convince her mother that they were just friends. She told her about her feelings for Derek. She told her about her jealousy toward the flight attendant on the plane ride. She told her about how Derek only likes her as a friend. She told her about their day at the pond and their almost-kiss. It was as though once Kira started talking, she just couldn’t stop.

Once Kira finally finished telling what seemed to be her life story, Allison stop there with a shocked look on her face. The initial shock of the lie quickly wore off and then she only felt pity for Kira. “Oh, sweetie,” Allison sympathized.

“I know, I know,” Kira sighed. “It’s hopeless. He’s so perfect and so out of my league.”

Allison shook her head. “No, Kira. It’s not that,” she replied. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s obvious that he cares about you.”

“Yeah, he cares about me as a friend,” Kira retorted bitterly. “Why can’t he like me more than as a friend?”

“I think he does,” Allison said. “He looks at you the same way Stiles looks at Malia or Scott looks at me. I just don’t think you know it because you’re too preoccupied with your own feelings for him to realize that he has feelings for you.”

Kira looked up at Allison hopefully. “You really think that?” she asked quietly, as if she was scared of the answer she would get.

Allison smiled at her. “Yes, I do,” she answered.

Kira smiled back. She looked over at the clock and said, “I should probably get going. I don’t want my parents or Derek to worry about me being gone for so long.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Allison said as she followed Kira to the door. “If you ever need someone to talk to, I’ll always be here for you.”

“Thank you for everything,” Kira said as she left, feeling much better than she did earlier. After a few seconds, she turned around and called out, “Hey, Allison?”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” Allison called back as she waved goodbye to Kira.

Kira waved back and thank her again. After her talk with Allison, Kira was ready to go home and face the music when it came to Derek and their relationship.

Kira returned home to a tense household. As it turns out that just because Kira was ready to deal with their problems, didn’t mean that Derek was ready to. When she got back home, Derek avoided Kira like the plague. His avoidance of her made Kira question everything that Allison had told her. No way could Derek like her. Kira knew the way Derek acted when he liked someone, and this was not it.

The rest of that night was filled with tension. Kira had no clue what to say to Derek. She didn’t want to make things worse, so she decided to not say anything at all. Unfortunately, that also made things worse.

They put up a façade during dinner with her parents, but even that didn’t work too well. Dinner conversation was stifled and awkward. Neither of them knew how to interact with each other at that point.

When it came time for bed, Derek took a pillow and a few blankets down to the couch in the living room to sleep. Kira felt awful about Derek having to sleep on the couch because of what happened between them.

Noshiko noticed that something was wrong between them at dinner but seeing Derek set up his bed on the living room couch rather than share the bed with her daughter set off a red flag for her. She went to ask Kira what was wrong, but Kira reassured her that it was nothing to worry about; it’s just that they had just had a small argument and needed some space from each other for the night. They’d be back to normal in time for the party tomorrow night, or at least that’s what Kira hoped.

 

* * *

 

The New Years’ Eve party was a bit awkward for Derek and Kira. They did their best to keep up the charade of being a happy couple, but it was hard for them to pretend that everything was alright.

It got to the point that they were practically ignoring each other while at the party. Kira stayed with Allison and Malia while Derek was with Scott and Stiles. The party was divided like the Christmas party, but this time, the kids were also divided.

Things got a little bit better as people got more and more drunk as the night went on, but it was still a bit awkward for Derek and Kira. They were the only two who weren’t drinking, so they had to worry about making sure their friends didn’t get too smashed; although, that gave them an excuse to avoid each other.

It felt like a lifetime had gone by before Derek and Kira finally talked to each other that night.

“Only a minute til midnight,” Noshiko called out, excitedly.

All the couples moved to find their other half. Scott joined Allison over by the doorway. Malia dragged Stiles over to the couch with her. John and Melissa were standing together as were Ken and Noshiko.

“Ten seconds!”

Kira walked over to Derek, figuring that she might as well keep up the appearance that they were a couple.

“Nine.”

Derek looked at her little confused before realizing what she was going.

“Eight.”

The two of them awkwardly greeted each other – the first time they spoke to each other all night.

“Seven.”

Derek apologized to Kira for acting so weird the past couple of days.

“Six.”

Kira told him that it had really hurt her, but he was forgiven.

“Five.”

The two stared at each other, not sure what to do now.

“Four.”

Kira took a small step closer to Derek.

“Three.”

Derek took a step forward, closing the space between each other.

“Two.”

They looked at each other one more time.

“One… Happy New Year!”

Suddenly Derek’s lips were on Kira’s. His arms wrapping around her waist as hers wrapped around his shoulders and her hands went into his hair. This kiss was nothing like their kiss on Christmas Eve. This kiss was full of so much passion and fire. Kira and Derek just melted into the kiss. This was exactly how Kira had always imagined kissing Derek would be like.

 When they finally broke apart for air, they were both breathing heavy and their pupils were dilated. They just stood there, holding each other and staring into each other’s eyes, for a few seconds before they completely broke apart.

“Woah,” Kira breathed, still shell-shocked from the kiss.

Derek suddenly dropped his arms from Kira’s waist. “I-I need some air,” he stammered, as he tried to flee. He fled out the door, leaving Kira standing there alone.

 

* * *

 

Once Kira could think straight again, she went after Derek. They had to talk about that kiss. She was going to admit how she felt about him. Thanks to that kiss, she no longer thought that her feelings were unrequited.

Kira found Derek standing out on the front porch. It looked like he was freaking out.

“Derek we end to talk,” Kira said as she approached him.

“Please. Just leave me alone,” Derek said, shooing Kia away.

Kira took a deep breath and step closer to Derek. “No,” she said firmly. “We need to talk.”

“Talk about what?” Derek asked. He sounded so sad and scared.

“About the kiss,” Kira clarified.

“What?” Derek asked again. He sounded like he was about to cry.  “Are you going to tell me that it meant nothing?”

Suddenly Kira felt mad. “Meant nothing?!” she yelled. “I was going to tell you that I’m in love with you, you asshole!”

Derek froze like a deer caught in headlights. “You love me?” he asked softly, a slight quiver in his voice.

“I’ve been in love with you for a while now,” Kira explained. “This whole trip has been messing with my head. I don’t want to pretend anymore. I want to be your girlfriend – your actual girlfriend, not your fake one.”

Derek broke into a large grin. “I love you too,” he confessed. “That’s why I agreed to pretend to be your boyfriend. I’m so in love with you that I’d be willing to pretend to be your boyfriend, just so I could spend more time with you.”

Kira couldn’t help but smile at that. “Will you be actually boyfriend then?” she asked.

“Of course,” Derek answered, giving her a light peck on the lips.

“Well then, it’s official,” Kira said. “We should probably go let everyone know the truth.”

And with that, Derek and Kira went to join the rest of the party.

 Kira was nervous about letting everyone know the truth, but as long as she had Derek, her actual boyfriend, by her side, she knew she would be okay. She knew that everyone got one Christmas miracle and hers was having Derek be in love with her and be her boyfriend.

Kira couldn’t wait til next Christmas, but she knew she had the whole new year to enjoy with her beloved Derek.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Parts of the fic based off of [these headcannons](http://nighttimemachinery.tumblr.com/post/133182110960/do-you-have-any-cute-dira-headcanons-especially).
> 
> Come find me on tumblr [here](http://www.maliayukimura.tumblr.com).


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